LEBANON Law and Practice Contributed by: Nayla Comair-Obeid, Ziad Obeid and Zeina Obeid, Obeid & Partners
Once the exequatur is granted, the foreign judgment becomes enforceable in Lebanon. The competent Enforcement Bureau then proceeds with its execu- tion, in accordance with the provisions of the LCCP governing enforcement. This involves pursuing the judgment debtor’s movable and immovable assets.
• 30 days from receiving notification of other types of judgments rendered by the courts of first instance. Unless otherwise provided by a specific provision, the time limit to file an appeal begins to run from the date of notification of the judgment (Article 643 of the LCCP). That said, the losing party may request notifi- cation of the judgment from the court clerk upon the issuance of the final judgment and immediately file an appeal after paying the relevant fees, pursuant to Article 642 of the LCCP. 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal Appeals An appeal may not be filed in disputes involving an amount that does not exceed LBP150 million (Article 640 of the LCCP). On an exceptional basis, an appeal may be filed against a judgment even if the amount in dispute does not exceed LBP40 million, in the following cases (Arti- cle 641 of the LCCP): • lack of functional or ratione materiae jurisdiction; • nullity of the judgment or nullity of the fundamental procedures on which it is based; • contradiction in the dispositive section of the judg- ment that makes it impossible to enforce; • omission to rule on any of the parties’ claims; or • ruling on a claim that was not raised by the parties, or a ruling that exceeds the claims made. The court of appeal will review the case as a whole – ie, the facts and the law (Article 659 of the LCCP). New Claims Pursuant to Article 662 of the LCCP, new claims are not allowed at the appeal stage, unless these claims: • are counterclaims and/or they arose explicitly or implicitly out of the initial claim; • relate to a set-off; • were used as defences to reject the opposing party’s claims; • aimed to decide on issues arising out of the inter- vention of a third party;
10. Appeal 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation
Article 639 of the LCCP provides that all judgments rendered by the courts of first instance may be appealed, except those expressly excluded by the law. According to Article 640 of the LCCP, judgments adjudicating a dispute of an amount not exceeding LBP150 million are not subject to appeal. 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments The appeal is governed by Articles 638–667 of the LCCP. As stated in 10.1 Levels of Appeal or Review to a Litigation , all judgments issued by the courts of first instance may be appealed, unless otherwise pro- vided by law (Article 639 of the LCCP). The appeal must be filed at the court registry and shall be signed by a lawyer and include the appealed judgment indi- cating the court of first of instance that rendered it, the date, the grounds relied upon and the requests for relief (Article 655 of the LCCP). The grounds for appeal are set out under 10.4 Issues Considered by the Appeal Court at an Appeal . 10.3 Procedure for Taking an Appeal The procedure for taking an appeal is provided in 10.2 Rules Concerning Appeals of Judgments . Unless otherwise provided by law, the timeframes to lodge an appeal (Article 643 of the LCCP) are as fol- lows: • eight days from receiving notification of a judgment rendered by the judge of summary proceedings, judgments concerning enforcement disputes and those rendered by the President of the Enforce- ment Bureau, and all decisions ordering interim measures; and
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